The lonely rose
by Alwaysbree
Summary: It's one year after the war, and hermione decides to take in a wizard for three years, as a way to prevent something like Voldemort happen again, but who is the wizard?
1. Chapter 1

I sat down on my bed and sighed, it had been a long, uneventful day at the Ministry. i had volunteered to help reelect Ministry officials, since 80% of them had died in the war, not a lot of us were left, and we were all helping to rebuild our society.

About 3 months ago we had finished rebuilding Hogwarts, it had been hard, seeing all that destruction. and again I was reminded of just how powerful magic was, most of the castle had been rebuilt by big repairing spells. we had had to move quickly so students could return in august, Harry, Ron and I had been invited back, but I was pretty sure I was the only one that be going. I had tried to persuade them but, they both wanted to go on to be Aurors and since they were both war heroes they qualified without the schooling.

Sighing I looked down at the mail I had received, I was pretty sure that it was the supply list for Hogwarts. Although I wasn't sure what all would be on the list, since most of Diagon alley was still closed down, including Flourish and Blotts.

I was disappointed though when instead I got a Ministry letter, it was probably another invite to some sort of charity, or volunteer construction event. we had all been receiving a lot of those, which they sent out as flyers to every wizard that was still alive.

My curiosity peeked though when I realized that it was a handwritten letter addressed to me reding:

_Mrs Hermione G__ranger_

_We are excited to inform you that you qualify for our newest Ministry program. unlike previous programs, this one is not a volunteer activity, we have gone through certain wizards records, and decided ourselves wether or not they qualify. _

_As you know, we have sent all wizards, from the dark lord side of the war, that committed multiple, provable, notable illegal offenses, to Azkaban. however there are several wizards left, that we cannot prove of anything, but we have reason to not trust. _

_Because you qualify, we ask that you take in one of these questionable wizards for three years. we understand that this is a very long time to live with someone, so we are taking every factor Into consideration when we chose your match, so if you were to chose to partake in this program, it would be easier for you._

_During the three years your chosen wizard would need to complete 150 hours of community service hours. when the three years are up, the wizard will be allowed to move out and live where and how they choose. _

_This is of course if the wizard has no infractions and has done nothing that we would have reason to be suspicious_ of.

_after the three years are up, if they have chosen to live on there own, we ask that you still check up on them every month or so, the frequency of the check ups, will lessen throughout time._

_This program is of course not mandatory, but we ask that you really think about it before you make your decision. we would also like to tell you that If you do in fact choose to take in a wizard it would be very honorable and tremendously helpful to our community, As it will help us greatly in rebuilding our society_

_If you choose to partake in this program, please sign and fill out the attached forms and send them back, so that we can find the best match for you. If not, simply send back the entire letter as it is. _

_Sincerely _

_Mafalda Hopkirk_

I wasn't sure how someone could possibly decline an offer like this, I was immensely honored that I was chosen, and was glad to be able to help prevent something like Voldemort happen again. I had a lot of questions though, would the person be my age, would I still get to go to Hogwarts, would it be a boy or a girl, would they be able to get a job, or would I have to support them?


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning I was woken abruptly by a loud crash and Mrs. Weasley's shouts at Ron.

I groaned, I had been up late last night filling out the ministry forms and had only gotten about 6 hours of sleep. After living at the burrow for over a year I was starting to realize that mornings like this were a pretty common occurrence. I was also starting to wish that I had bought my own place.

Of course it wasn't there fault, I had been offered to share a room with Ron, which definitely would have been much more soundproof. I just couldn't bring my self to do something like that though, despite the fact that everyone assumed we were together after the war. Well, We were together, technically at least. We had kissed and he had called me his girlfriend. But since then nothing had really happened, he had made an attempt to spend time alone with me, but I always managed to come up with some excuse. Honestly I wasn't sure what my feelings For Ron where. After we had kissed, it had felt wonderful, but I couldn't stop thinking about what a prat he had been to me the entire time we had known each other. And it just didn't seem right to be with someone who treated you that way. Of course Ron wasn't all bad, sometimes he was sweet and caring and just wonderful! That's what made it hard, he isn't all bad, but he sometimes isn't all good. Good for me at least.

After hearing another loud crash from downstairs I decided i might as well get up. I wanted to send those ministry letters back as soon as possible so I could get my results quicker, and I also wanted to ask Harry and Ron if they had gotten similar letters. After quickly getting dressed and braiding my hair back, so it would look somewhat presentable I quietly walked downstairs to the kitchen. I always tried to be quite so I could hear the conversation's going on. One time I had walked into a rather awkward conversation between Ron and Harry about Ginny, I had tried to be more cautious since then.

When I walked into the kitchen, mrs. Weasley quickly sat me down with some toast next to Ron with Harry and Ginny across form us. As usual I was the only one that noticed the suspiciousness of the seating. I sighed and greeted them, but they were to occupied to notice. Harry and Ginny were having a heated conversation about quidditch while Ron was shoving his face and mumbling his opinions.

I wasn't surprised, this was usually how I found them in the morning. The fighting between Harry and Ginny had been a bit surprising at first, neither seemed like the kind that would argue, at least not with each other. But once the arguments become physical, they got... _Physical_. Which was always a bit of a shock to Ron and I. We had never seen harry display such... _Affection_.

I turned to Ron, hoping to ask him about the ministry letter, but he was of course, eating another helping of eggs. I sighed and hit him in the head with the envelope.

"Oi!" Was his indignant reply

"Would you stop eating an pay attention!" Oh, that came out a bit ruder then I had meant.

"What do you want?" He said with a scowl, but he must of saw my expression, because his face softened and he asked in a considerably nicer tone "I'm sorry hermione, what was it you wanted to ask me?"

"I'm sorry Ron, I just wanted to know if you got a letter like this?" I handed him my letter and he looked it over with a confused look.

"No I didn't get something like this! Did you harry?" Harry and ginny both looked up at Ron, and Ginny took the letter from Ron as Harry asked us what we were talking about. I began to explain, but ginny handed him the letter so he could read it, since neither of them had recognized it I was assuming I was the only one that had received. I wondered just how picky they had been when choosing wizards, Harry was the 'wizard savior' and he hadn't been chosen?

Harry looked up at me, and I could tell he was thinking the same thing.

"No. We didn't. Did you fill out the forms they mention?" He seems a bit upset that he hadn't been chosen, but right now didn't seem like the right time to address the matter. so I pulled out the second envelope that held the forms. It also had some extra papers that contained my questions, I leaned across the table to show them to Harry. He pulled the papers out and began to read some of the questions, and I turned back to Ron and Ginny to ask them what they thought about it.

But before the question had even left my mouth we were interrupted by a choked sound coming from harry.

"Urm, hermione" I turned to him and noticed that he was blushing a very bright shade of red. It took about two seconds before I put it together, and I quickly snatched the papers back with a mortified apology.

The forms had contained some EXTREMELY personal questions, and I was mentally kicking myself at being stupid enough to just hand him the papers. I stared at him mortified.

"Ohmygosh harry I'm so sorry! What did you read?" I managed to mumble as I quickly tied the papers to hedwig.

"It's alright hermione, but i'd rather not think about it" he turned to Ron who was laughing uncontrollably "What's so funny Ron?"

"Oh come on harry. It's funny!" He controlled his laughter though, and I was thankful, now we could move past that silliness. "So your going to do it though hermione? Live with some random wizard for three years?"

"Yes, and I don't think it will be that random, they said they were taking 'every factor Into consideration' so it would 'be easier for me' so I think it will be someone I'm comfortable with." I said

"But what if it's someone scary, they're going to be veteran death eaters!" Ginny looked at me worriedly

"It'll be fine ginny" I assured her " all of the really bad ones were sent to Azkaban"

"aren't you curious though?" Harry said, as he looked up from rereading my letter.

"Yeah, who do you think it will be?" I looked at Ron, they were all looking at me expectantly now. And I sighed, they were expecting me to know _exactly_ who it would be, just like I usually would, but I didn't.


End file.
